According to the Huffington Post, she was got the accolade of ‘Class Beauty’ as a sophomore at North Caddo High School in Vivian, Louisiana. She was also voted ‘Class Personality’ in her freshman year in 1962

2. She Has 4 Sons

Her boys are Alan, Jase, Willie, and Jep. Alan, the oldest, is the only brother who doesn’t work at Duck Commander. He works as a senior pastor in West Monroe, LA.

Parade asked Kay if she ever wished for a daughter. She answered that her daughters-in-law and granddaughters are the next best thing.

Of course, but I wound up having them in my daughters-in-law and then my granddaughters. I always thought, what would I have done with a girl if I’d had one? There was nowhere to put her! But with the boys, it’s kind of like a ­locker room. They don’t mind all being in the bathroom together.

Kay is very involved in her grandchildren’s lives. She told the Christian Post that her advice to them centers around remembering the past and relying on God.

I tell my kids and my grandkids, ‘Never forget where you came from. Never forget your roots.’ My grandkids, they didn’t go through the hard times as much as other ones in our family did. One thing is to just never forget where you came from and you never forget that nothing is more important than your relationship with Jesus Christ.

3. Phil Accused Her of Cheating and Kicked Her and Their 3 Sons Out

A&E

For 10 years, Phil was fighting and drinking his way through life. According to the Christian Post, he kicked his family out of the house, and Kay turned to religion, converting to Christianity.She told World magazine that her commitment to God enabled her to fight for her broken marriage.

Christ has meant everything to our marriage. It was my commitment to Christ and the words from my grandmother that made me stick with Phil when there wasn’t much to hold on to. How has Phil changed? Do you have a year to hear about it? His love for the outdoors, his pioneer spirit, and his quest for adventure has not changed. But his heart has been turned inside out. He’s a new man in every way that involves relationships.

When Phil accused her of cheating, she felt all was lost. She told Us Weekly,
For him just to say that…I think that’s the most hopeless feeling I had. [I felt] like I could not save this marriage, I couldn’t save him. I was obviously not feeling like I could rise above it.

4. She Considered Taking Her Own Life

In the above video, Kay spoke openly at the “Night of Ducks and Hucks” fundraising event in Monroe, North Carolina in 2013.

When Phil abandoned her and her boys, there was a night when she thought of ending it all and punishing Phil for what he did.

Sometimes you can’t feel like you can live at all without hope. That night I was without any of it. I cried in that bathroom and I just didn’t want to live anymore. I wanted Phil to be punished, to realize what he was doing.

She said what saved her was hearing her little boys outside the bathroom door.

What probably saved me from doing anything to myself that night. I always describe it as I hear 3 little sets of house shoes and that was Al and Jase and Willie. Alan knocked on the door and said, ‘Mama don’t cry anymore, please don’t cry anymore.’ He said, ‘God’s going to take care of you.’ He was 10-years-old, Jason was 6, Willie was 3. And he [Alan] said, ‘Mom, He will take care of all of us, please don’t cry anymore. I felt like right then God told me, ‘I got plans for you.’

5. She Wrote a Cookbook

Kay told World magazine that it was her grandmother, Callie Mae Carroway, who taught her the joy of cooking. Now she wants to pass it on to her grandchildren.

Now as I pass my love of cooking down to my grandchildren, I make sure to wrap our cooking in my unconditional love for them.

Angela Barbutistarted her reporting career in the seventh grade at her middle school newspaper in Queens. She's had lunch with Tony Danza, and Dave Franco said he liked her accent. Follow her on Twitter @angciao.April 17, 2015 2:44 pm